The San Diego Zoo's panda pages offer a plethora of photos and other information about China's most reclusive citizens. Besides being undeniably cute, pandas make a great preservation study with some interesting international overtones. It now includes a live webcam stream of the pandas 24 hours a day

The Berlin Wall and the Press is a short video (just over 14 minutes) that presents life on both sides of the Berlin Wall including escapes and protests. Find three activities (downloadable in PDF format) to prepare students to analyze the impact of the Berlin Wall. The video is a fascinating presentation with primary sources about the origins of the wall from both western and Soviet perspectives. There are also nine Optional Extension Activities; these cover everything from graffiti art on the wall, to writing personal journals as one of the residents of East Berlin, to researching the unification of Berlin after the wall came down, and even more. Two of the activities help increase student awareness of political unrest in other parts of the world (China's Tiananmen Square Nov. 1989; Tehran, Iran June 2009; Tunis, Tunisia Jan. 2011; and Cairo, Egypt Jan. 2011), asking students to research challenges and criticisms of the press while trying to report on them.

In the Classroom

Teachers should plan on spending ample time previewing the site before using it in class. Initially view the video as a class and have a discussion. You might want to use a backchannel tool like TodaysMeet, reviewed here, for the discussion. The advantage of a backchannel chat is that every student has a voice, no matter how shy. Have small groups choose which of the extension activities they would like to investigate. Allow students to create a final project other than an essay to share their findings and present to the class. Suggest something like an online poster using Checkthis, reviewed here, or a simple infographic using Easel.ly, reviewed here.

In the Classroom

Use this free lesson plan in class during a unit on Chinese inventions and innovations. Make sure to mention the years inventions were made while performing the activity, students will be amazed just how many inventions we use today were made almost 3 thousand years ago!

This site from CNN offers a look at internal and international issues affecting China, considering everything from the rise of a new middle class to the ecological impact of a new dam to the future of relations with the United States. While there's plenty of history here, the focus is clearly on how China fits into the current world order. Beautiful design and artwork!

In the Classroom

Save this as a favorite and use it as a learning center or station during a unit on modern china. This activity works best if students have a graphic organizer to guide them through all of the information. If in need of help with the guide, we recommend using Graphic Organizer Maker, (reviewed here). This would be a great resource for a World History or US government class.

This site from the Chinese National Tourism Office provides very general information on the features of China's various regions, paying particular note to places interesting to tourists. Despite the lack of detail, there's more than enough here to get a sense of the variations in China's geography, cultures, and history.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on the interactive whiteboard or projector during a unit on China, modern or Ancient since most of the spots mentioned have historical significance stretching over centuries. Allow students to explore the site on their own with the intentions of creating their own travel brochure based on this website and previous knowledge of Chinese history. Making sure that student projects are connected to historical content, projects can be as easy as paper brochures to as complex as video commercials. If using a video-based project,have your students make their own ads based on the videos and radio transmissions they can view here. Share the videos using a tool such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.

This site is a photojournal of a tour through the Chinese countryside, noting the ways in which local "farmers' markets" contribute to the vitality of an otherwise centralized Chinese economy. Interesting for its purely local and village focus, as well as for the photos showing what life in small Chinese villages really looks like.

In the Classroom

Use the images from this site to contribute to a class visual discovery based on the economic situation of China. Most of the images are representative of the free markets thriving in major cities, making it easy to compare and contrast with what students have seen in the US. Select 3-5 of the more stimulating images, placing them in a powerpoint presentation. Show students the slides via interactive whiteboard/projector, with students writing down what they can observe & infer about each image. After the display is complete, have a class discussion based on student findings. This would be a great review activity, allowing students to apply classroom knowledge on what they're viewing.

In the Classroom

Although too outdated to be a current event's piece, this site could be used to study the ever-evolving nature of the Chinese government. Compare the reports on economic and social freedoms to those found elsewhere detailing those same rights today. Over the interactive whiteboard,use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare and contrast the two environments. This would be a great resource for a government or international politics class.

Find news videos from around the world in a unique way. Mapeas video links are located on a Google Map. Go to the specific geographical area of the world you want and click on the links. Larger dots contain more videos in that area. There are dots that indicate a news story in business, entertainment, or general. Continue to click on the dots until there are actual videos to choose from. Stay informed with current events around the world with this site.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site to find events occurring around the world. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Research about many of these events to understand the history, culture, and background of the problem or event. Research other such events that may have occurred elsewhere in the world. Report findings using a blog, wiki, or through class discussion. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through. Challenge students to find their own news stories and create a short multimedia project highlighting "the news" by creating a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced) to explain their news story that they researched. Use a site such as Blabberize (reviewed here).